Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., making a rare appearance as a law school commencement speaker, on Tuesday urged Georgetown University Law Center graduates to resolve disputes through reason, not power.

While not mentioning any political power standoff within Congress or the violent invasion of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Roberts reminded graduates of Justice Robert Jackson's opening statement at the Nuremberg trials that "It is through the law that power pays tribute to reason."

Roberts added, "The lawyer's tool is reason. Resolving disputes according to reason embodied in the law can involve a lot more work than leaving it all up to power."